I have anxiety…. I feel stress, I am affected mentally…. That moment comes to my mind every day…. I always remember that day.
—Tirhas S. (not her real name), 44-year-old sexual violence survivor, Tigray, March 16, 2021
The armed conflict that began in November 2020 in the Tigray region of Ethiopia has involved numerous grave abuses committed by Ethiopian and Eritrean armed forces, and regional Amhara militias allied to the Ethiopian army, including massacres, rape, and other sexual violence against women and girls; attacks on refugee camps; and destruction of crops and civilian infrastructure, including healthcare facilities and schools. Tigrayan militia forces have also committed serious abuses, including sexual violence, against Eritrean refugees in the region, and in the Amhara region as the fighting has expanded.
The armed conflict has also been characterized by the Ethiopian government’s obstruction of humanitarian assistance in Tigray, which the United Nations has characterized as a de facto blockade. The government is unlawfully restricting and denying desperately needed food, medical supplies, and fuel to the population of Tigray. The government has imposed unpredictable bureaucratic obstacles for aid agencies to obtain visas and permissions for goods; engaged in harassment, attacks, and expulsion of humanitarian workers; and shut down basic services in the region, including banking, electricity, and telecommunications.
Since Tigrayan forces retook control of most of the region in late June 2021, the Ethiopian government has effectively besieged Tigray, raising concerns that it is using starvation as a weapon of war, which is a violation of the Ethiopian criminal code and a war crime under international humanitarian law.
This report documents the health impacts of conflict-related sexual violence in Tigray as described by humanitarian agencies and other service providers. It details the devastation of the healthcare system in Tigray, and the lack of availability of post-rape health care and related psychosocial support services. It documents how insecurity, armed men’s presence in health settings, and Ethiopian government restrictions on communications, electricity, and humanitarian assistance have impeded the access to care for sexual violence survivors, including girls and women from 6 to 80 years old. It also describes how the government’s blocking of food, medical supplies, and fuel to the region has stymied the rehabilitation of the health sector and the ramping-up of a comprehensive response to gender-based violence.
Read the full report here, courtesy of Human Rights Watch.